By Nicole Hauck, Staff Writer
Despite 18 saves from Dylan Abplanalp and four goals from Colton Dick, the Susquehanna men’s lacrosse left Sassafras Field with a 15–7 loss in their conference-opener to Scranton on March 23.
In the first quarter, the River Hawks came out strong. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Bucher won the faceoff and junior midfielder Jacob Fox picked up the groundball. Freshman attacker Jack McLaughlin soon after scored the first goal of the contest off an assisted by senior midfielder Jake Smolokoff.
The Royals responded with two goals of their own to end the first quarter with a 2–1 lead. The River Hawks had 10 shots in the quarter while the Royals had 11.
Around the 11-minute mark in the second quarter, sophomore attacker Colton Dick scored off an assist from junior attacker Preston Ouellette to tie the score 2–2. The River Hawks gained their momentum and scored two goals in rapid succession. Senior attacker Jake Donnelly scored off an assist from Smolokoff and Dick scored the fourth goal unassisted.
With 3:30 on the clock, Scranton scored to narrow the Susquehanna lead to one, but it was not long until Dick responded with another goal to end the first half with the River Hawks leading 5–3.
Scranton was quick to tie the score in the beginning of the third quarter with two goals in the first two minutes. By the end of the third quarter though, the Royals had scored seven goals to take a 10–5 lead heading into the final quarter of action.
After the Royals started the fourth quarter with four more goals, the River Hawks called a timeout. Sophomore goalie Tyler Gross went in for senior goalie Dylan Abplanalp. Bucher had won the faceoff after the timeout and another goal was scored by Dick, making the score 14-6.
Scranton scored again before sophomore attacker Tyler Humphrey scored the final goal, ending 15-7.
“We came out strong and won the first half and were happy with our performance but then lost our momentum as the game continued,” Bucher said. “Scranton came out with a fire and we just couldn’t come back after their third quarter run.”
Susquehanna had 29 shots, 20 turnovers, 12 won face offs and 30 ground balls.
Dick has recently earned a spot as a top River Hawk performer, totaling with eight goals from the past two games. Dick currently has 22 goals in season.
The River Hawks have an overall record of 4-6. They will be back in action at 4 p.m. on March 27 at Sassafras Field in Selinsgrove when they play Misericordia for non-conference play.